38 jobs
National Crime Agency Gillingham £47,049 pa
Lead drone pilot for the NCA's Technical Operations unmanned vehicle programme, responsible for flight planning and clearances, piloting a range of UAS and USV platforms, and developing innovative technical surveillance capabilities. The role involves training the drone cadre, engaging with the Civil Aviation Authority and suppliers, and acting as subject matter expert on unmanned vehicles.
Flarebright Bicester £39,000 – £49,000 pa
Contributes across the full development lifecycle, from concept and algorithm design to system integration, testing and troubleshooting of safety-critical navigation and autonomy software in C++. Works with a multidisciplinary team on real-time embedded systems, hardware/software-in-the-loop testing and flight test activities, producing design documentation and test reports.
Matchtech Cambridgeshire £350 – £450 pd
Contract CAD engineering role in the aerospace sector, creating accurate 3D geometry from existing designs and CAD data to support specialist UAS sub-module components and assemblies. Day to day involves smooth surface and skeleton modelling in Creo, WINDCHILL data management, the AAX plugin, and liaising with manufacturing facilities for fast-turnaround production of parts such as aerodynamic enclosures and radomes.
Leonardo Yeovil
Design or analyse helicopter transmission systems across conventional helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air systems, covering the full product lifecycle from concept to in-service support. Designers produce 3D models and 2D drawings in CATIA V5 for gears, bearings, casings, shafts and couplings; analysts perform stress, fatigue and finite element analysis. The role spans UK and Italian sites with international travel.
Shield AI London
Deploy, integrate and maintain components of an AI training factory across isolated and specialised environments, working in a small team of engineers and administrators. The role involves Kubernetes and container orchestration, C++/Python applications, Linux networking, and automation tooling such as Ansible, Chef or Puppet, with close coordination with autonomy teams.
Empresaria Group plc Bristol £50,000 – £80,000 pa
Develops onboard software for uncrewed aerial systems, spanning autopilots, autonomy, payloads and mission-critical subsystems. Works on existing aircraft and clean-sheet designs, taking code from concept and SIL/HIL simulation through to real-world flight testing, with C++ and/or Rust in embedded and real-time environments.
Shield AI London
Bridges systems engineering, software and autonomy to deliver advanced autonomous systems for defense. Translates mission needs into requirements, architectures and interface definitions, while developing and debugging C++ and Python prototypes and test infrastructure. Works across autonomy, GNC, avionics and test teams through simulation, HIL and flight test.
Leonardo Luton
Responsible for the electronic architecture of high-performance self-protection systems fitted to fast jet, UAV, land and naval platforms, working within an Integrated Project Team alongside Systems, Mechanical and Firmware engineers. Covers the full product lifecycle including qualification, design changes, obsolescence, production support and repairs, with testing of RF, microwave, digital and high-speed designs. Involves technical risk management, documentation and coaching within an international multi-partner team.
QinetiQ Salisbury £56,025 – £62,250 pa
Provides technical leadership across complex aerospace programmes, leading multidisciplinary teams through requirements management, systems integration, test and evaluation, certification and technical governance. Works with customers and project managers on military, civil and uncrewed aircraft, based at Boscombe Down with at least three days a week on site.
QinetiQ Salisbury £56,250 – £62,500 pa
Leads the technical success of uncrewed aerial systems projects, owning delivery to time, cost and quality while ensuring compliance with engineering policy. Coordinates trials, safety, quality and configuration roles, liaising with project managers and customers on technical progress and constraints.
Callen Lenz Salisbury £50,000 – £60,000 pa
Design and build pixel-perfect, responsive user interfaces for flight control and ground station software, working with React, TypeScript, HTML/CSS and real-time streaming technologies. The role sits in a cross-functional agile team collaborating with UX researchers and designers, contributing to a design system, code reviews and test coverage with Jest, Cypress or RTL.
Windracers Fareham
Take technical ownership of powerplant and propulsion systems for fixed-wing logistics UAVs, covering architecture, integration, testing, production support and operational reliability. Lead design of engines or motors, propellers, mounts and cooling, manage supplier relationships and define verification and validation test strategies including ground, endurance and flight testing.
Tekever Bristol
Owns the regulatory and governance framework for civil and defence UAS flying, authoring SORA submissions and Operational Safety Cases and leading Operational Authorisation applications with the UK CAA, MAA, EASA, JARUS and other authorities. Also manages Ofcom spectrum permissions, CFAOS accreditation, air safety management and audit readiness, with around 50% national and international travel.
Platform Recruitment Saffron Walden £70,000 – £80,000 pa
Design, build and test RF-based systems from concept through to manufacture, working on airborne radars, drone sensors and LSWaP devices for GPS and radar communication. Collaborate with experts and customers to establish requirements, with hybrid working of three days a week in a state-of-the-art lab and R&D facility.
Platform Recruitment Cambridge £45,000 – £65,000 pa
Design and develop embedded firmware for advanced radar and sensing systems used in UAV applications. Work across the full product lifecycle in a collaborative, engineering-led environment using C/C++ on STM32 microcontrollers in bare-metal and RTOS environments. Engage in system-level debugging and contribute to software architecture for next-generation sensing technologies.
Tekever Swindon
Build and run a propulsion manufacturing capability from scratch at the Swindon site, covering facility layout, equipment commissioning, fuel and engine test cells, and in-house 3D printing. Recruit and lead the shop-floor team, manage supply chain outsourcing, and drive production rate, quality and continuous improvement across a European plant network.
